Understanding Mob Programming as a trivia team. Going to the lake with friends for the weekend, we often play a game Friday or Saturday night. Poetry for Neanderthals, Secret Hitler, Codenames (my personal favorite). We had an original edition Trivial Pursuit, which was hilarious due to how outdated the questions were (1981). Trivial Pursuit can …
Author Archives: theAgileCouch
Code Connector / Code Co-op: 5/24/22 Lightning Talks
“Forgetting the Factory & Making Change in Tightly Coupled Systems” Well, having barely finished my presentation, I went way over the 10 minute time. Fortunately for me, one presenter dropped out, and Lawrence was a gracious host. More of a rolling thunder talk, maybe. The YouTube video of the whole session, with all speakers here. …
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Mob Mentality episode: “Advanced Napkin Math, OM Science, Scrum, and Mobbing” — Supplementary screenshots and links
I had the pleasure of recording an episode of the Mob Mentality podcast with the energizing and fun Austin Chadwick and Chris Lucian. They do so much for the Agile community on the micro and macro level. We discussed some simulation tools, and the value of doing “Advanced Napkin Math” in cases where we don’t …
Nick Saban, Scrum Master: On Winners and Winning
My friend JC Smiley from Code Connector may be the most voraciously curious person I know. Every day he wakes up early and posts at least one question in the Code Connector Slack channel. Something to get people thinking, to seek out experienced opinions, and share common ideas among new learners. His two questions today: …
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What difference could it possibly make? The psychology and social dynamics of Sprint timing.
20 reasons to change Sprints mid-week.
Link: “Is it my fault you can’t handle the truth?”
The dangers and warning signs of the hyper-rational. A heavy, and deep read by Tim Ottinger, whom you should follow.
When Leveraging Skills Increases Team Fragility.
The real costs of “un-teaming” are harm to your Robustness and Anti-Fragility.
The Value of Failure
“Failures are exactly as valuable as successes”
Turning User Stories Into Enabling Specifications
The PBI is the gunshot that sets the runner at the block free to race forward.
The Real Costs of Sub-Optimal Product Backlog Ordering
A quick post while I’m thinking about real costs (see the previous post, real costs of context-switching). The role of the Product Owner is to “maximize the value of the team”. Paradoxically, she does not do that by altering the team itself. The flip side of the coin is that the team of creators do …
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The Agile Couch 